It is frequently desirable to disconnect a final drive for a track-type vehicle when the vehicle is being towed. Although the transmission for the vehicle is normally placed in neutral during towing, hydrostatic motors sometimes employed in the vehicle's final drive remain operatively connected to the drive sprockets or the tracks. Thus, the motors are driven by the sprockets during towing which may result in damage to the motors due to lubricant starvation and frictional drag occasioned between the rotating components thereof.
In addition, a normally engaged and hydraulically released brake is usually integrated into the final drive. Since the vehicle's power plant may be nonoperative during the towing, the brake can not be released hydraulically unless special release mechanisms are employed therefor.